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Hans J Marter
21 January, 2010
THE THREAT hanging over 78 Shetland fishermen who were
ordered by the European Commission to pay back council
grants appears to have receded.
 On Thursday Shetland Islands Council's development committee
chairman Josie Simpson said he believed a "positive
solution" was round the corner.
This follows two years of behind the scene discussions
between the council's economic development unit, the EC, the
UK government and the Scottish government.
Under the First Time Shareholder Scheme £581,750 was paid
out to 78 young fishermen, each receiving an average £7,500,
to help them join the crew of a fishing boat.
Mr Simpson said it was too early to make a full statement as
he did not want to "jeopardise" the process, which was not
yet over.
"This has taken a long, long time but we are making progress
towards a satisfactory conclusion. It is at a very sensitive
stage at the moment," he said. |
His sentiments were echoed
by SIC head of development Neil Grant who said "significant
inroads" had been made.
Councillors were updated on progress in a report
debated behind closed doors.
Sources within the industry indicate that most of the 78
cases have been dealt with and only a few still need to be
resolved.
In November 2007, the EC dropped a bombshell on the isles
when they ruled that three schemes supporting the local
fishing industry breached state aid regulations.
The ruling followed a lengthy investigation triggered by an
anonymous complaint to the Brussels about how the SIC was
using its oil money to support the fish catching and
processing sector.
The three schemes were the First Time Shareholder Scheme,
the Fishing Vessel Modernisation Scheme and the Fish Factory
Improvement Scheme, totalling more than £1 million in grant
support.
Following an appeal and lobbying of European officials, the
council were let off the hook on the vessel modernisation
scheme and allowances were made on the fish factory scheme
in March 2008.
A spokesman for the Shetland Fishermen's Association (SFA)
said they had not been involved in the discussions, but
hoped for a positive outcome for their members.
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